On the Airship

"Junior apprentices?"

Richard looked at the Black Robe Wizard, waves soaring ten thousand feet high in his heart.

Were wizards like this also apprentices, just like them?

But before he had time to think further, an opening appeared in the bottom of the Airship.

The Black Robe Wizard led them inside. The moment he landed, Richard heard a deep, powerful woman's voice.

"Seven apprentices! Taylor, your luck isn't bad."

Richard focused his eyes and saw a fierce-looking woman standing in the cabin. She was two meters tall and built like a bear, holding a nearly two-meter-long Greatsword as wide as a door panel. Its blade was carved with dense, intricate symbols, making it look utterly fantastical.

Beside her, Richard also spotted a black-robed skeleton with ghostly blue flames burning in its eye sockets. Once it saw them all enter, it waved a hand, and the opening in the cabin floor closed on its own.

"Seven apprentices. When we get back, every one of you has to treat me to a meal. Nothing less than a hundred Magic Stones."

The Black Robe Wizard had shed the ferocity he had shown the nobles on the ground and bantered cheerfully with the wizards inside the cabin.

"Go to hell. Fifty Magic Stones. Take it or leave it."

The Skeleton Wizard carried a Crystal Ball over to the apprentices and began recording their names and Spiritual Power.

After the count was finished, the Skeleton Wizard seemed to perform a magic trick, pulling bag after bag from beneath his black robe. Each bag contained a feather pen, a bottle of ink, a stack of white paper, a numbered tag, and three books.

No explanations, no conversation. The Skeleton Wizard conducted himself entirely differently from the other two wizards, who were chatting away.

It was as if he had cast aside the emotions of the living and embraced calm and reason with both body and soul.

"These are your enrollment materials. They contain the Wizard Academy's introductory courses and enrollment rules. That numbered tag is your room number. During the Airship's journey, do not leave your room unless necessary."

Seeing that the Skeleton Wizard had no intention of speaking, Wizard Taylor, who had brought them aboard, had no choice but to explain.

"Now hurry and find your rooms. You can have a little fun during the flight, but don't make it fatal."

The Airship's passenger cabin had only one corridor, with neatly arranged rooms on both sides. Every room housed four people.

Richard counted them. If this Airship had fifty rooms, then at full capacity, it could carry at least two hundred passengers.

Fifty rooms, two hundred people.

"This fantasy world really is fantastical. Even an Airship is this impressive."

Following the corridor to its end, Richard opened Room 225, which temporarily belonged to him.

"Hey, friend. I'm Ellie from Canning Territory."

The moment he entered, Richard saw a girl greeting him.

She had long, pale golden hair and light blue eyes. Though her face had a few freckles, they only added a touch of youthful charm.

"Hm? Was this room assigned incorrectly?"

Richard was somewhat bewildered and turned to ask the Skeleton Wizard.

"Friend, don't bother asking. Someone already did. Wizard Eason said there was no mistake."

Richard stopped. "Wizard Eason? The wizard who looked like... a skeleton?"

Ellie nodded. "That's him. He said the room assignments were completely random and told us not to ask him to switch them. Quite a few people have asked him to switch rooms these past few days. They annoyed him so much he nearly threw the apprentices requesting a change off the Airship."

Hearing that, Richard pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache.

This was rather troublesome. Living with a woman would always be inconvenient in many ways.

But since the wizard had said room changes were forbidden, he could only comply.

"Fine." Richard sighed. "Hello, Ellie. I'm Richard from Black Forest Territory."

In truth, Ellie had lied.

Rooms on the Airship could actually be switched, but the method of switching them was rather brutal.

So long as you could make someone agree to switch rooms without causing any deaths, the recruiting wizards would not interfere.

In the few days since Ellie had boarded the Airship, several violent conflicts had already broken out one after another.

And those violent conflicts were often accompanied by one thing...

Rape.

The wizards would not stop such crimes. In their eyes, it was merely childish horseplay. One wizard who looked very much like an ape even watched with great interest.

That only fed the evil thoughts of certain people aboard the Airship.

Fortunately, the Airship spent most of its time flying at high speed, and no one could leave their rooms during those times.

That was why Ellie had managed to avoid those beasts in this corner room.

But Richard's arrival had brought danger to her.

If those beasts learned that there was still a delectable prey tucked away in the corner of the Airship, then the next time it slowed down would be Ellie's day of suffering.

So she had to stop Richard from changing rooms.

Moreover, Richard was very handsome, and very weak.

Years of malnutrition had left Richard's complexion extremely frail. His thin body looked as though a gust of wind could knock him over even through his clothes.

Ellie was confident she could resist Richard's assault.

Back in the present, Richard casually shut the door after entering the room.

The room was small, only eleven or twelve square meters, and it also had a small compartment that was probably a restroom.

Its furnishings were simple: two bunk beds, a table about two meters long, two chairs, and a Magic Lamp on the ceiling. That was the entirety of the room's decoration.

The small room now held only him and Ellie.

A young man and woman at the age when love first bloomed, shut inside a tiny room.

The young man was handsome and refined, the girl petite and lovely. Their gazes met, then immediately slipped apart.

This scene should have been rather ambiguous... my ass.

Richard might look like a teenager, but inside, he was an adult.

His type was gentle, intelligent older women!

"I'll take the top bunk. If you need to change clothes, let me know first. I'll step out."

After saying that flatly, Richard turned, took off his shoes, and climbed onto the upper bunk.

Flirting with a girl was far less important than what he had to do now.

Sitting on the upper bunk, Richard opened the three books from the bag one by one.

Richard could not understand any of the three books. As a farmer, being able to write his own name already counted as being learned and talented.

However, one of the thicker books seemed to be a dictionary.

[Material: Wizard language dictionary]

[Extractable information: Wizard language]

[Extraction cost: 10 Spiritual Power]

[Extract?]

Richard placed the dictionary in his pocket, then made his decision.

"Extract."

In an instant, Richard felt as though his head had been struck by a heavy hammer, and his vision went black.

After an unknown amount of time, Richard awoke from his slumber.

The room was pitch-black, and it seemed to be nighttime already.

"Hiss... I can't be this reckless when extracting again."

Richard rubbed his head. Fortunately, he had been on the Airship this time, where the surroundings were quite safe. Had this happened anywhere else, he would practically have pushed himself into danger.

Entering Soul Space, a ball of white light bouncing up and down had been waiting above the Miracle Furnace for quite some time.

When he fused with the white light, Richard did not experience the visions he had when fusing Wind Raven Swordplay. He merely felt as if he had remembered a great many things.

Richard tried it out and found that he had indeed learned the Wizard language, but this learning was more like memorizing a dictionary from cover to cover.

If Richard tried to read the Wizard language, he would still have the inaccurate intonation of a beginner.

"It seems 'skills' and 'information' are very different. Absorbing information is more like directly pouring knowledge into the brain. Anything requiring practical application still needs plenty of practice. Skills, on the other hand, have no problem with practical application, but are difficult to summarize into words."

Grrr!

A tremendous hunger pulled Richard from his thoughts.

He had gone nearly two days without eating.

"Ellie, Ellie," Richard called softly.

"Hm? You're awake."

In the darkness, Ellie's voice came from the lower bunk. It sounded as if she had not slept yet.

"Ellie, what time is it now?"

"Four thirty-two in the morning."

Hearing the time, Richard roughly calculated how long he had been unconscious.

He had likely slept for fourteen hours.

"Did anyone bring food during that time?"

"Your meal is on the table. Come down and eat if you want."

Richard could hear that something was wrong with Ellie. Though he had only just met her, ordinary people should not have been so awake at four in the morning.

"Have you been awake all night?" Richard asked softly.

"Mm."

"Missing home?"

"A little."

She seemed to be a girl who had rarely traveled far from home.

Grrr!

Richard wanted to comfort her a little more, but the tremendous rumble from his stomach made him decide to eat first.

He rolled out of bed, and his dinner was sitting on the room's table.

Two palm-sized loaves of dark bread, a somewhat charred piece of beef, and a bowl of beet porridge.

Though this meal was not as good as the Chinese food in Richard's memories, it was far better than the sawdust-filled dark bread he had eaten in Black Forest Territory.

"Whew, I finally feel a little better."

After eating, Richard sat in a chair and let out a long breath.

Though the meal had not filled him up, at least there was now something in his stomach.

"Richard, are you a knight?"

Ellie lay on the bed, looking at Richard from her side.

Richard could sense that something seemed off in her voice. Was Ellie... crying?

"I'm not. Why are you suddenly asking that?"

"Then we're finished."

Richard frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Richard." Ellie's voice choked with sobs. "Do you know what our entrance examination is, according to the enrollment handbook?"

"What is it?"

"It's killing people!"